Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sledding Down Memory Lane

Many years ago there lived a little girl, and this little girl loved the snow, but she lived in the South where really good snows were rare.Still, the little girl anxiously awaited the first snowfall (back then she didn’t mind the cold so much).She would stare out the window at the field next door and study the sky and how it looked where it met the ground, and how the dried grasses waved with the wind.She just knew snowflakes were about to fall.Sure enough, one or two at a time, then more and more until it was really snowing.She was so happy! She would watch as it started sticking, piling up until everything was white.

Photo courtesy of Magpie Tales

When the snow was deep enough and packed down on the roads around her house, her Daddy would take her sledding.Not just any sledding, mind you, this was special.You see, her Daddy made some chains for his lawn mower and fashioned a hitch of sorts for her sled.The little girl donned her snow clothes, boots and mittens, and out into her winter wonderland they went.Her Daddy pulled her everywhere, up and down the hills, and all around the neighborhood.Such fun they had!He would slow up and then start again, making the sled jerk, and off she slid into the snow, laughing.The first time was an accident, but it was so much fun, she did it over and over again.

She’s been grown for some time now, but those long ago memories are sweet reminders of how special her childhood really was.

20 comments:

Hi Linda .. how true is that - I probably remember the huge snows we had in 1962/3 lasted for 3 months+ .. and building an igloo - that lasted into June.

A cousin of my mother's remembers coming to a local town with her father in the early 1930s and skiing down the gentle slope by the sea!! I took her to visit .. she was chuffed to see it again .. and then said "not much of a hill is it" .. how right - but not when you're 8 on the back of your Dad's skis ..

Like Hilary I remember 1962/63 snows. My dad had a contract to clear the roads. We didn't see him for weeks (it seemed). They didn't have cabs on caterpillars in those days he must have been so cold out there all day. I just remember endless bowls or soup.

We've always lived in Alabama, but even here I have some special memories of heavy snow storms we had over the years. Granted, there weren't too many of them, but we took full advantage to enjoy them. That is until 1993, when THE storm hit, and we were without power or water for over a week. No fun at all.

I love that! A good, happy story - very uncommon in this world today! My mom STILL has our "flexi flyers" in the garage... and it NEVER SNOWS HERE. BUT!!! Last year we had a freak snow storm and we were able to get the sleds and use them in the street - I would pull the kids in the same manner - it was so neat to watch My children on MY childhood sled!